Start the year off right by going to the dentist with Tommy Lasorda

With his mouth wide open, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda gets some dental work done by Dr. Maurice Sakland in New York, Monday, June 10, 1980. Lasorda had hardly checked into his New York hotel room on Monday morning when the telephone started ringing. A call from Italian Society reminding luncheon in his honor. Old friends wanting to say âhello.â Strangers requesting baseballs, caps and other paraphernalia. But he appears happiest when he is doing things for the ordinary people. Heâs always on the stump. (AP Photo/RF) (RF/AP)

By Ben Cosman

January 1, 2016

It's Jan. 1. We have resolutions -- things like, "eat less junk food," and "be nicer to my brother." Unfortunately, New Year's resolutions tend not to last too long. When it's just us versus an intimidating goal, things can go south kind of quickly. We need some inspiration, a life coach of sorts. Someone in our corner, cheering us on through the winter doldrums and into spring. An example to hold high, some proof that these sorts of things can be done. What we all need on the first day of 2016 is Tommy Lasorda at the dentist.
Why, exactly, is there a photo of Lasorda in the middle of a dental check up? Well, for all we know, the then-Dodgers manager's New Year's Resolution on Jan. 1, 1980, was to go to the dentist more in the new decade, and there he was, in the above photo taken on June 10, following through. That's the kind of inspiration that will keep you away from the chips aisle in March.

Teams in this article:

Los Angeles Dodgers